Using the ecosys mathematical model to simulate temporal variability of nitrous oxide emissions from a fertilized agricultural soil

Large temporal variability of N2O emissions complicates calculation of emission factors (EFs) needed for N2O inventories. To contribute towards improving these inventories, a process-based, 3-dimensional mathematical model, ecosys, was used to model N2O emissions from a canola crop. The objective of this study was to test the hypothesis in ecosys that large temporal variability of N2O is due to transition among alternative reduction reactions in nitrification/denitrification caused by small changes in soil water-filled pore space (WFPS) following a threshold response, which controls diffusivity (Dg) and solubility of O2. We simulated emissions at field scale, using a 20 × 20 matrix of 36 m × 36 m grid cells rendered in ArcGIS from a digital elevation model of the fertilized agricultural field. Modelled results were compared to measured N2O fluxes using the flux-gradient technique from a micrometeorological tower equipped with a tunable diode laser, to assess temporal N2O variability. Grid cell simulations were performed using original, earlier and later planting and fertilizer dates, to show the influence of changing precipitation and temperature on EFs. Fertilizer application (112 kg N ha−1), precipitation and temperature were the main factors responsible for N2O emissions. Ecosys represented the temporal variation of N2O emissions measured at the tower by modelling significant emissions at WFPS > 60% which reduced the oxygen diffusivity, causing a rising need for alternative electron acceptors, thus greater N2O production via nitrification/denitrification. Small changes in WFPS above a threshold value caused comparatively large changes in N2O flux not directly predictable from soil temperature and WFPS. In ecosys, little N2O production occurred at WFPS < 60% because the oxygen diffusivity was large enough to meet microbial demand. Coefficients of diurnal temporal variation in N2O fluxes were high, ranging from 25-51% (modelled) and 24-63% (measured), during emission periods (0-0.8 mg N2O-N m2 h−1). This variation was shown to rise strongly with temperature during nitrification of N fertilizer so that EFs were affected by timing of fertilizer application. EFs almost quadrupled when fertilizer applications were delayed (average: 1.67% (fertilizer-induced emissions), causing nitrification to occur in warmer soils (18 °C), compared to earlier applications (average: 0.45%) when nitrification occurred in cooler soils (12 °C). Large temporal variation caused biases in seasonal emissions if calculated from infrequent (daily and weekly) measurements. These results show the importance of the use of models that include climate impact on N2O, with appropriate time-steps that capture its temporal variation.